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Since 2005, green jobs in California have grown at a rate ten times faster than the state’s total job growth of one percent, according to the 2009 California Green Innovation Index (PDF), an initiative from Next 10, authored by Collaborative Economics.By green segment, job growth has been strongest in advanced materials (28 percent) followed by transportation (23 percent), air and environment (22 percent), and green building (20 percent), with 20 percent of those jobs generated in manufacturing.

The index also found that total gross domestic product produced per unit of energy is 68 percent higher in California than the rest of the nation. Green tech venture capital investment nearly doubled in one year, hitting a record $3.3 billion in 2008, capturing 57 percent of the national total.

Californians, per capita, continue to pay lower utility bills and spend billions less of their state economy as a whole on electricity than the rest of the country due to energy efficiency innovation. This is a trend that continues since it was last identified in the 2008 index.

Although the index findings confirm progress in economic, energy and environmental indicators, it also found that total electricity consumption in California continues to rise. The number of working Californians using alternatives to driving alone has also remained fairly static – hovering around 26-28 percent since 2000.

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Reader Comments

In a down time and with the pressure for companies to “Do the right thing” I have been amazede at the 180 that people hav done. We started cleaning industrial filters long ago, with the idea that they could be re-used to keep used filters out of our landfill. When I called on customers in the past they did not understand. In more recient times everbody is listening. Large companies have jumped in; I just pray the trend continues and this is not a fad. Do what is right recycle reuse.